Krishna to visit Pakistan in September

New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday said he hopes to visit Islamabad in the first week of September for official talks and the dates will be decided by the foreign secretaries of the two countries.

“We are looking for dates in the first week of September,” Krishna told reporters when asked about the date for his Pakistan visit.

He added that he will visit Islamabad before he goes for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Krishna was set to go to Islamabad July 17-18 for the foreign minister-level talks, but he said he had to postpone his visit due to the July 19 presidential election.

Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani in their talks here Thursday discussed the dates for Krishna’s visit to Islamabad.

The foreign secretaries will meet again in Islamabad, on a date to be decided through diplomatic channels, to prepare for the meeting of the foreign ministers in September, said a joint statement after the foreign secretaries’ talks.